The Tangled Threads of Fate—an isff fewshot
by dafuturesingingsensation
Summary: While Tommy is with Sadie, he does the unspeakable. When he tries -key word TRIES- to end his life, what will be the reaction of those around him? Will he be forgiven? Will two couples previously kept apart by circumstance finally find each other? READ!
1. Part One

The Tangled Threads of Fate—an isff few-shot, Part One

(Author's Note: I'm not quite sure when all of this takes place in the IS storyline, I'm guessing sometime after "Miss World".)

_O time! thou must untangle this, not I;  
It is too hard a knot for me to untie!  
_-Viola, William Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_, Act II, Scene 2

Tommy woke up for work early one morning with a searing headache, which he immediately recognized as a hangover. He recalled having quite a few glasses of wine last night, and as he glanced over at the clock, he noticed he had a new bedmate. This situation would have been typical of him a few years ago, but now not so much. He wondered why he would have done something like this now, when he had finally put his life in order, and was even in love… He suddenly recognized the girl, and with her identity came terror, pure and utter fear at the full realization of what he'd done by sleeping with her.

He slipped out of bed, taking care not to wake his companion, and went straight to his bathroom. He splashed cold water onto his face in a pathetic effort to try and cleanse himself of the wrong he had committed, but he knew that no amount of washing would purify him of his sin. _Oh God, why on earth did you do it, Tom? _He demanded of himself._ Why did you sleep with Sadie? __Why__? Why did you do that to her? You know she doesn't mean anything to you, but she doesn't know that, she's in love with you, and oh God, last night was probably her first… What is __wrong__ with you? Did you forget all about Jude, the girl you're really in love with?_ "Jude," he breathed, hardly daring to shape her sacred name with his cursed lips. _She'll kill you when she finds out,_ continued his conscience. "No," he whispered. "I'll do it first." He opened the medicine cabinet and took out a large bottle of Advil that he kept in there, and proceeded to ingest the pills by the handful, using tap water to help him swallow them. When the bottle was empty, he still clutched it in his hand, and a small groan escaped him as he felt the pills travel down his throat. He collapsed onto the floor, preferring to die rather than face himself after making the biggest mistake of his life.

Twenty minutes later, Sadie awoke. She was a little disappointed that Tommy wasn't still in bed with her, but she knew that he was married to his work, and was probably getting ready for it right now. However, as she approached the bathroom, she heard no sound of him showering, or indeed, any sound at all. She stopped and considered the possibility that he had already left for work, but doubted that; firstly, because he simply wouldn't leave her all by herself after they had just had their first night together, and secondly because he knew that she had no transportation to speak of, and it was a long way back to her house. She knocked on the door, but received no reply. She reasoned that he was probably shaving, and didn't want to either stop and open the door for her or say anything and risk cutting himself (shaving was a tricky business). So she opened the door herself, and let out a shriek when she saw the terrible scene inside.

"Oh my God! Tommy? Can you hear me? Tommy, tell me you're okay. Answer me, Tommy! Oh God, what do I do?!"

-

A few blocks down, Kwest actually was getting ready for work at G Major, and was suddenly interrupted by his cell ringing. He immediately guessed it was Tommy, but thought it rather unlike him to call so early in the morning. He subsequently suspected that perhaps Tommy wanted to call in sick, but didn't want to call the label and listen to Jude's angry rants as to why she hadn't called and told _her_ before she was to come in, not to mention Liam's lectures on work ethic. As he answered the phone, however, he heard neither Tommy's sick nor pretending-to-be-sick voice, but Sadie, in a high-pitched, panic-filled tone he had never heard her use before.

"Kwest, I found Tommy in the bathroom with an empty bottle of Advil in his hand. I can't feel his pulse, and I'm not even sure he's breathing. God, Kwest, what should I do?!"

"Stay calm. Have you called the poison control center?"

"No, I don't know the number."

"It's on the back of the bottle. Call them, and tell them the address, and also the nearest intersection. I'm on my way over." She hung up, and as he did the same, he thought to himself, _Tommy? No way. I know him. He would never do anything like this. I just can't believe it._

However, any personal disbelief he had was dispelled the moment he arrived at Tommy's apartment, and was welcomed in silently by Sadie, who looked a good deal more than half-frightened to death, and saw Tommy's limp, helpless body in the bathroom. He began to look for a pulse, and after much searching, found a very faint one, and could also see upon close inspection a slight rising and falling of his chest. This was all a great relief to Sadie, and Kwest's own presence an obvious comfort to her, and the two stayed close together, speaking not a word, until the EMTs arrived. Then there was a great deal of commotion, Sadie and Kwest told the paramedics what they knew, and Tommy was lifted onto the stretcher and carried into the ambulance. On their way to the hospital, the chief paramedic told them in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry. He just looks bad right now, but he'll be all right. He'll be as good as new in a few days, a week or two at the most. It's a good thing you didn't wait, and called us right away. I've seen these things before, and if we get them to the hospital quick enough, they always turn out fine." She smiled. "Trust me."

Sadie looked at her. "I want to."

The paramedic reached over, took her hand, and began rubbing it soothingly. Kwest began doing the same with her back. Sadie didn't complain, and for one bittersweet moment, he could feel a connection between them, albeit one through worry and grief for Tommy, who was one of the most important people in the world to both of them.

–

Jude was the next to be called. She had been waiting impatiently for over half an hour for Tommy to arrive, and was getting annoyed, because he had not called to tell her he wouldn't be coming in to work today. _For Pete's sakes, Tommy,_ she thought angrily, _if you're not going to be in, then at least call and tell me before I go all the way over to G Major! _Suddenly her cell phone rang, but when she took it up and saw the caller ID, it was Sadie, whom she knew had been his date last night, but would not have expected to make his calls for him.

"Hi Sadie. Why didn't Tommy call himself?"

Jude heard her take a deep, irregular breath. "Tommy's in surgery right now."

"…_What?_ Sadie, don't joke with me. I've just been waiting forty-five minutes for him."

"I'm not playing, Jude. I just woke up to see him with an empty bottle of Advil in his hand and he could barely breathe. He's having his stomach pumped right now."

Jude's mouth dropped open involuntarily, but no sound came out.

-

Twenty minutes later, Jude arrived at the hospital, nearly overpaying the taxi-driver in her hurry to get inside. Sadie and Kwest approached her as soon as she got past the main entrance, but when she looked at them, they slowly shook their heads in response to the urgent question in her eyes. Jude glanced downward and remained quiet and thoughtful for a moment, but soon she looked back up at them, her mouth forming the beginnings of various words as if she wished to ask a multitude of questions but didn't know with which to begin.

"…Why did he…?"

"I don't know," answered Sadie.

"Did he write anything to say why he…?"

"No."

"Can you think of anything that would have made him do this?"

"No," replied Kwest. "I still can't believe he did it. He's never done anything like this before."

"Not even on tour?"

"Nothing like this."

"Do you remember him acting strange or anything last night?"

"No, not at all," said Sadie. "I mean, something happened last night that…hadn't happened before, at least for us; but…it's not like it was _his_ first time." She blushed upon saying that, realizing that she had just stated, not in very many words, the goings-on between herself and Tommy last night. At that, both Jude and Kwest made strange, choking noises, and looked down at the floor.

"So, none of us can think of any reason for Tommy to have done what he did?" asked Jude a minute later in a strangled voice. They all shook their heads, and, after a few more moments of hesitation and embarrassment, decided to sit in some of the hospital chairs and wait around for news of the outcome of Tommy's operation.


	2. Part Two

The Tangled Threads of Fate—an isff few-shot, Part Two

A few hours later, Sadie had fallen asleep from nervous and bodily exhaustion, and Kwest had soon afterwards gently taken her head into his lap, and was now thoughtfully smoothing her hair. Presently, a surgeon passed through the double doors that separated the operating room and the waiting area, proceeded to the front desk, and asked the nurse there a question. For answer, the nurse pointed Jude, Sadie, and Kwest out. The surgeon then approached them quietly.

"Excuse me. Are you all waiting for Tom Quincy?"

Kwest nodded, and gently woke Sadie up. She yawned and stretched, but sat up quickly when she saw the surgeon.

"How is he?" Jude asked for all of them.

The surgeon smiled. "He'll be fine."

The three concurrently let out a long sigh, releasing all the tension that they had been unconsciously holding in for the entire morning.

"When can we see him?" was next on Jude's mind. Sadie was as yet too tired, and Kwest too relieved, to think of or ask any questions at the moment, and so they let Jude ask what they themselves wanted to know.

"This afternoon, I think. Right now, he's still sleeping off the anesthesia. But please, when he wakes up, don't overexert him. Don't attack him for what he did, and don't ask him any questions unless he's willing to talk. These situations are always very delicate, and we can't get these people any assistance if they start to believe that everyone's against them."

"So then what are we supposed to do?"

"Wait around, let him see whoever he wants. Just taking note of the person that he wants to talk to first could potentially say a lot about why he did this. The first person he wants to see right after the fact is probably the one he's closest to, and is the one he'll give his first story or apology to."

"So you're sure that he's sorry for what he did?"

"Well, seeing how he's always acted, he seems too much of a person who likes to live life to the fullest to just throw his away without an understandable reason. He must have done something that he really blamed himself, something he couldn't forgive himself, for. But whatever that could have been, I have no idea." The surgeon got up and left them to ponder over his words.

Sadie spoke first, and sharply, surprising everyone. "He's wrong. Tommy didn't have anything to blame himself for."

Kwest answered quietly, "No, I think he could have been right. You haven't seen Tommy get self-destructive over the smallest things. Whenever he thinks he's messed up real bad, he goes off on a drinking binge. I should know, I'm the one who usually had to take care of him afterwards."

"But," Jude questioned him, "if he usually goes for alcohol, then why would he turn to drugs?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Maybe he felt that this time was worse than usual, like he'd really done bad and couldn't make up for it. But I don't know what would set him over the edge like this." He sighed, and spoke half to himself. "I thought I knew him through and through, I guess not." Suddenly, Kwest felt the unexpected—though not at all unwelcome—sensations of Sadie's arms around him, and her gentle breath on his ear.

"Don't feel bad," she whispered. "It's not your fault." He closed his eyes, seeking to control himself by remembering that he couldn't have her, she was Tommy's girlfriend at the moment and therefore unattainable. _She's just being friendly right now;_ he reminded himself, _this doesn't mean nearly as much to her as it does to you. _Still he couldn't help but melt into Sadie's embrace, and his face had somehow gotten quite close to hers when a question posed by Jude thankfully saved him from disgracing himself.

"So what do you say we do to occupy ourselves until Tommy wakes up?"

Kwest immediately jerked away from Sadie to face Jude. "Um, I dunno, maybe get something to eat. Neither of you have had a good meal since last night, I'm guessing." The two girls nodded, and so Kwest got up and took them to lunch.

The calm atmosphere of the café helped to relax them, after the cold and chill feeling of the hospital, and especially after the ordeal that had brought them there. No one said much, but Sadie certainly looked much rejuvenated, and also greatly relieved that the other two were with her. Neither Jude nor Kwest could begin to imagine what all of this must have done to her, and so they didn't ask her any questions or even speak of the matter, but she appeared to have put on a brave face, for she did her best to remain cheerful, and this helped put the other two into higher spirits, so that when they returned to the hospital, it didn't seem quite so gloomy.

None of them wanted to be the first to see Tommy as he must look, hooked up to IV's and appearing totally defenseless. Therefore, all together, they walked up to the front desk to ask for his room number, and set out to go look for it; but when they found it, they lost their nerve, all of them too reluctant to open the door yet too anxious to see Tommy to leave. Kwest solved the matter by knocking softly on the door, which was quickly opened by a middle-aged and motherly looking nurse.

"You're all here for Mr. Quincy, I presume?" she asked. They all nodded, and she continued as if she knew what they wanted to ask, "He's not awake yet, but he will be soon. But I'm afraid I can only let one of you in at a time to visit him."

"Oh no, that's okay," answered Jude. "Could you just maybe ask Tommy, when he wakes up, who he wants to see first?"

"Of course," smiled the nurse. At that moment, a slight groan came from within the hospital room, and the nurse had to close the door and attend to her patient. The three outside listened closely to hear their conversation.

"Hello, young man. Did you sleep well?"

"…I wasn't supposed to wake up," they heard Tommy confess.

"Now, there's no reason for you to talk like that. You have your entire life ahead of you, and you oughtn't to be trying to end it."

Tommy gave a rueful chuckle. "You could be right."

"Of course. Now you have three visitors waiting: a young man about your age and two ladies a little younger. They've asked that you choose whom you'd like to see first."

"Kwest, Jude, and Sadie," he murmured to himself. Then, "Ask the guy to come in."

"Of course, sir," the nurse replied, then the door opened so quickly that the three had to step away in order not to fall in. "Young man?" She beckoned to Kwest, who nodded. "Inside, please." To Jude and Sadie, she said, "I suggest that you two wait in the waiting area until the two young men have finished talking and Mr. Quincy sends for one of you. You could technically wait here, I suppose, but you'd have to stand all the while, and your legs would probably get tired." They nodded and followed her instructions.


	3. Part Three

The Tangled Threads of Fate—an isff few-shot, Part Three

Kwest spotted a chair in the room, moved it next to Tommy's bed and sat down.

"How you doin', man?" were Tommy's first words to him, a friendly, familial grin on his face.

"You tell me," was Kwest's stone-cold response. The smile immediately wiped itself off Tommy's face as he continued. "How do you think I feel? I thought this was just going to be a regular workday, but no, you just _had_ to try to kill yourself. Can you imagine what that did to me? More importantly, what do you think it did to Sadie? She was with you just last night; didn't you think about her?"

"No, I didn't," admitted Tommy quietly.

"You're right about that. You didn't think about Jude, either."

"No, I did think about Jude." Kwest was watching Tommy's face at the moment, and so knew that he was serious. "Kwest, last night…I slept with Sadie."

"I know, she told us."

"Jude knows?!" Kwest nodded, and Tommy's expression instantly turned to one of torture. "That's what I wanted to get away from."

"Wait a minute, that's why you freaked us all out by trying to commit suicide? It was just because you didn't want Jude to find out that you slept with Sadie, even though you're her producer and she's her sister? What, are you in Fantasyland?"

"No, I just couldn't face Jude if she ever found out, and now that she has, I don't know what to do."

"Why would your sleeping with Sadie matter so much to Jude?"

Tommy shot Kwest a look he hadn't given him in months, since Tommy had been in a dilemma over whether to accompany Jude on tour or Sadie on her trip to Europe, and Kwest had asked him whether or not he was over Jude. That was the moment that Tommy had looked at him that way, letting him know without actually telling him that he wasn't, and that he never would be. Now that he was giving him the look again, Kwest once more realized, without hearing it from his lips, what he meant: it mattered to Jude because she was in love with him, and to Tommy for the converse reason.

"I was drunk," he explained quietly. "It didn't mean anything to me, I don't even remember it, but to Sadie…it was her first. And Jude knows that, she's always known everything that went on between us. She's never gonna forgive me for what I've done, but I swear to God, I didn't mean to do it." Kwest could see the glint of tears in Tommy's eyes as he caught his head in his hands, grasping his hair as if he wished to rip it out. "I didn't. I wanted to take it back so bad, but I couldn't. I just couldn't deal with any of it, so I tried to get away from it. I took some pills…" His voice broke then, and his head went back down into his hands, his body shaking in silent weeping. Kwest, knowing not much else to do, patted Tommy's back reassuringly and waited patiently for him to calm himself, which he did, and then looked back up at Kwest. "How did Jude take it? You know, the news that Sadie and I…?"

"Oh, that? Probably about as well as I did." Kwest looked down at the floor as he said this, and Tommy soon remembered why. "Oh. Sorry, man. I told you, I—"

"I get it, man." Kwest smiled wryly. "I'm not blaming you, I just kinda wanted to be Sadie's first, but I should have known that you'd be the one to do that."

"Kwest." Tommy gave him a serious look. "Believe me; you would have been, if it weren't for last night. Look, I'm not blind, man; I know that you're in love with her. You have been for a long time. And if there's one thing I know, it's that she's right for you. I'm just a phase she's going through. When it's finally over, yeah, she'll be heartbroken, but it won't last long. And you'll be there for her through it all, and help her pick up the pieces, so that, when it's the right time, things will just…happen." After unveiling his entire plan, Tommy looked up at Kwest to observe his reaction, which turned out to be irrepressible laughter.

"Man, how long you been planning this for?" he asked Tommy when he could control himself.

"Pretty much since we got together." At this response, Kwest had to laugh again, and furthermore beg the question, "Then why'd you date her in the first place?"

Tommy sighed. "I don't really know anymore. At first, it was because I couldn't have Jude, and dating Sadie helped pass the time, and kept me close to Jude without making anyone suspicious. But after a while, I realized that all it did was bind me to a girl I didn't want, and keep me from being with the girl I did want. So I'm gonna have to break Sadie's heart, but I know we'll both be better off."

Kwest was impressed. "Wow, when did you get so wise?"

Tommy smiled as he said, "Love does weird things. I guess for me, it helped me see things more clearly."

"Yet you tried to commit suicide because you didn't want the girl you loved to know you slept with her sister."

Tommy's expression immediately darkened at those words, and he looked down at himself, not answering. Kwest realized that he shouldn't have said that, and vainly sought to find the right words to mend the hurt he knew he had caused. As he continued to mentally berate himself for deliberately doing something that he knew he wasn't supposed to do, Tommy said quietly, "It's okay. You're right; I know you are. I just don't know what to do right now. I mean, I want to see Jude, but it wouldn't look right if I asked for her right off the bat." He looked up at Kwest for his advice.

"Well, I don't know. You're right, you probably should see Sadie first, but I don't think she'd be able to handle seeing you like this, in a hospital bed, with tubes in your arms, all that. I mean, I can barely take it myself. I don't know; I'll go talk to them. Who knows, Sadie might even suggest it herself. Bye, guy."

"See ya." Tommy waved goodbye to Kwest, not realizing how big a burden he had just put on his best friend by having him handle such a delicate situation.

When Kwest returned to the waiting room of the hospital, he found Sadie and Jude talking quietly between themselves. Jude was the first to notice him, and as he approached, she asked simply, "So, how is he?"

Kwest looked at the two of them and took a breath. "He's all right. I bet he'll be out of here in just a few days."

Jude smiled with genuine relief, but Sadie's expression did not change so easily. "But did he say anything to you about why he…" she asked quietly. He looked directly at her, and seeing her magnificently unflinching and earnestly inquiring countenance, Kwest realized that he should have known better, that he couldn't evade her with such a simple answer, and she did indeed have a right to know. He almost wished to give her the reply that she wanted, to tell the truth about why Tommy did what he did, but he knew that it was up to Tommy to tell her, though exactly when he would do so was uncertain. They were both aware that if Sadie were to find out, by however means, everything would change, and take a definite turn for the worse.

"No." Kwest had always hated lying, especially to Sadie, but he knew he could do nothing else in the situation he found himself in. Sadie's eyebrows met in the middle, as if she were dissatisfied with and didn't believe his statement, but she thankfully did not question him any further. Instead, she looked over at Jude, whose eyes met hers, but did not gain any comprehension from them, as she had not been listening to the conversation. Sadie sighed and looked back at Kwest. "Did he say who he wanted to see next?"

This had been the exact question that Kwest had been wishing she wouldn't ask. "Um, he wasn't sure. He did talk about you…" he trailed off as Sadie shook her head, and proceeded to be taken aback by her response.

"I can't face him, not after what he's done. I don't care what excuse he gives, if he was gonna kill himself, he shouldn't have made me the first person to find him, especially after what went on between us last night. If I were to go into his room alone right now, I wouldn't be able to keep myself from killing him."

"Sadie," Jude exclaimed softly, touching her shoulder.

"No, Jude, I just can't. You go on ahead."

"Are you sure?" she asked. Sadie nodded, and Jude left her and went down the hall to where she knew Tommy's room was.

Kwest stood up to see her there, but Sadie stopped him by putting her hand on his shoulder, and as he turned to look at her, asked, "Stay with me?" with such a pleading look that Kwest knew he had no choice but to give in.


	4. Part Four

The Tangled Threads of Fate—an isff few-shot, Part Four

Jude walked up to the door, alone this time, and knocked on it softly. The same nurse from before opened it, smiling. "Hello, Miss Harrison. Mr. Quincy's been asking for you." Jude was a bit shocked, at the fact that she knew her name as well as her having said that Tommy was expecting her. The nurse smiled more widely. "My daughter has your CD in the car and plays it constantly. I love your music."

"Thank you," Jude replied. "How's Tommy been?"

"Well, he's a little cast down, but that's to be expected. I think your seeing him will do him good, though. Please thank your friends for coming, on his behalf. It's wonderful to see such loyalty in a time of need."

"Who is it?" Tommy asked irritably. He couldn't hear their conversation, so he didn't yet know which 'Miss Harrison' had come to see him.

"It's one of the young ladies from before, come to visit you, Mr. Quincy."

"I can tell that, Dottie. I heard you call her Miss Harrison, and I know there are two. Come on, if you're going to make me guess, you have to describe her."

"Well, I can say one thing about her: She has lovely golden hair."

Tommy groaned. "They're both blondes. You've got to give me a little more than that."

"No, that's enough to distinguish between them, I should think. The other young lady has got a bit more of a platinum shade."

Jude could hear him take in a swift breath. "Well, what are you doing having her stand out there? Let her in!"

The nurse chuckled, murmured, "Yes, sir," and opened the door fully. Jude stood where she was for a split second before she ran into Tommy's arms, and began chastising him while she touched his hair and face lovingly: "You're so stupid, Tommy. You know that?" Still, she smiled, and acted as if she had never been happier to see him, and Tommy forgot himself and reveled in the sheer pleasure of having Jude with him for a full minute before he remembered who was still in the room. "Um, Dottie," he said, looking at her over Jude's shoulder, "would you mind…?"

"Of course not, sir. I'll wait outside until Miss Jude leaves."

"Thanks." As Dottie walked out, Jude pulled away from Tommy and sat down in the chair by his bed (a/n: which was the same one that Kwest had sat in).

"Whoa, girl, what's wrong?" Tommy asked, a little stunned by the sudden and unexpected distance between the two of them.

"I forgot that I was supposed to be mad at you." Jude had the precise look on her face that Tommy had been dreading. "Look, Jude, I didn't mean to sleep with Sadie," he began apologetically, but as Jude looked up at him, he realized what a mistake he had made by saying so.

"You didn't _mean_ to sleep with Sadie? What, you think she's some type of slut? That last night wasn't her first; that it didn't mean everything to her? You…" Curse words spilled unashamedly from her lips in her rage, and Tommy grew fearful when Jude suddenly raised her hand as if to strike him. Her hand curled into a fist, then reopened as she slowly brought it down, and finally ended up mussing her hair exasperatedly with it. Angry tears spilled from her eyes as she turned away from him, and Tommy regretted what he had said, even though it was the truth. He dared not touch her at the moment, but instead waited for her to break the silence.

"How could you…Why did you have to make Sadie the first person to find you lying on the bathroom floor with an empty bottle of Advil in your hand?" She deliberately quoted Sadie's words to her as she posed the question to Tommy.

He shifted uncomfortably, and didn't look up at Jude for a minute or two before answering in his fashion, "I admit, I wasn't thinking about Sadie when I did it, but that's because—"

"Don't give me any reasons. You spent the night with her, she slept in your bed; how could you not be thinking about her the next morning?"

"I was thinking about you," he said, staring directly into her eyes, and Jude was forced to looked away. He continued, "I did what I did because I couldn't handle having you know that I'd slept with Sadie."

Her eyes widened. "That's all? That's why you scared the living daylights out of all of us, because you were too much of a coward to face me?"

A humorless smile played at his lips for a moment. "Yeah."

"Why?" For answer, Tommy needed no more than to look at her again, and their eyes locked once more. "…Tommy…"

"I swear, Jude, I didn't mean to sleep with Sadie," he repeated. "I was drunk. If I had stayed sober last night, I'd never have taken her to my place, much less have her stay the night there. You know that." Jude made no comment. "Come on, Jude, you don't really think…?"

"After what you did to get yourself in here, I really don't know what to think," Jude countered. "Especially since we're talking about Sadie here. I mean, look at her. She's gorgeous, she's legal, she's willing. How do I know whether or not you really wanted to sleep with her?"

"Jude." He looked at her seriously, and she listened. "You don't have to pretend that you haven't always known that the only person I've ever wanted to be with since I met you…is you," he said quietly.

"But you're with Sadie," she stated helplessly.

"Not for long." She bit her lip and shook her head no, but Tommy leaned in and held her close, whispering in her ear, "I already let you go once. I'm not gonna do it again."

Jude continued to shake her head, and the tears that had threatened to fall before now did so. "No. I'm not letting you do this to Sadie."

"Jude, I'm gonna break up with Sadie, as soon as I get out of here. I promise you, Jude," he murmured in her ear, but she pulled away immediately, her angry look back on her face.

"Who do you think you are?!" she cried. "Do you honestly think I'm going to let you break my sister's heart, the day after you slept with her, just to be with me?"

"You're going to let him do what?" a familiar voice said from behind the door, and both Jude and Tommy froze upon hearing it.


	5. Part Five

The Tangled Threads of Fate—an isff few-shot, Part Five

The door opened, and Sadie appeared, with Dottie following immediately afterwards, fervently apologizing, "I'm so sorry, I just couldn't keep her out, even though I told her about the one-visitor rule." Everyone could see that she was not to blame for Sadie's entry.

Sadie paid no attention to her, however, but it was not so much a matter of not caring about the rules as of being more focused on what she had just overheard. "What are you two talking about?" she demanded.

Jude moved away from Tommy, and approached Sadie. "Look, I—"

"You get away from me," Sadie coldly interrupted. "I can't trust you. I trusted you with my boyfriend and now I find you trying to steal him away?"

"Sadie—" pleaded Jude.

"Sadie." Tommy spoke in a stern tone, such as neither of the Harrison sisters had never heard from him before, and so Sadie eyed him warily and listened without saying a word. "You've listened long enough outside to know that Jude wasn't trying to get me to break up with you. I was the only person to ever say anything like that." When she heard the last sentence, Jude put her hand on his, and made him turn and look at her. Jude shook her head slightly at him again, with the same despairing expression on her face as from before. He leaned in and spoke to her quietly, but nevertheless in not quite in a whisper, which meant that Sadie could still hear. "Girl, believe me, I know what I'm doing here."

"But—"

"Trust me." He smiled reassuringly at her, and so even though she was still ill at ease, she released his hand, and he continued speaking. "Sadie," he said, looking at her directly and no longer hesitant in telling her what she needed to hear, "last night was a mistake."

The effect that this statement had on Sadie was immediate and expected. "You bstard!" were the first words that escaped from her lips; but anger was not the only emotion that had arisen in her. Shock, outrage, and utter devastation also made themselves apparent in her face, and blazed in her blue eyes that bore down ferociously on Tommy. However, she could not bring herself to approach him, and yell at him like he deserved, or even give him the cliché slap across the face. Instead, she began to cry right where she was standing, but she brushed the tears away angrily. She finally found the strength to do what she needed to do, and stepped toward Tommy. "You took my virginity," she reminded him.

"I know, Sadie, and I'm sorry. You don't know how sorry I am." As common a quote as it was, he meant every word of it, and it was indeed beyond Sadie's imagination as to how true it was.

"Don't talk to me about being sorry," she responded vehemently, with her chin quivering. "I'm sorry for sleeping with you, sorrier than you'll ever know. I'm sorry I thought you actually cared about me when you were only using me to get to my sister. Frankly, Tommy, I'm sorry I ever met you. You should have stayed as just a poster on my wall." Her eyebrow twitched inadvertently, and she could finally bear it no longer. She rushed out of the hospital room as quickly as she had entered, and both Jude and Tommy could hear her erupt into tears as soon as she was out of their sight.

"Oh, God, Tommy, what do we do? I'm going after her." Jude got up to do so, but Tommy pulled her back.

"No, Jude, stay here. Dottie!" he called. The nurse's head immediately popped in at the doorway. "Run after Sadie, tell me what she does."

"Yes, sir." Dottie nodded and hastened to follow his directions.

As Dottie hurried down the corridor, all the curious events that had just occurred ran through her mind. She had witnessed everything, unprofessionally listened in on all the conversations, and now she watched as Sadie ran into Kwest's arms, telling him the sad story of what she had just seen, sobbing so uncontrollably throughout that her words were unintelligible, yet somehow Kwest managed to understand her, and get her to gradually quiet down. Presently she dried her tears and looked directly at him. He spoke softly to her, and she listened to him, or at least pretended to, but Dottie noted that Sadie wasn't looking in Kwest's eyes as he did to her, but rather at his lips. Suddenly, she grabbed his chin and pulled his mouth to hers. Dottie was shocked, partly by the abruptness of the action and partly by the fact that less than five minutes ago, she had been crying over her breakup with Tommy; and apparently, Kwest was stunned as well, for he pulled away, and asked her if she knew what she was doing. Sadie responded in the positive, and kissed him again. Kwest didn't pull away this time, and Dottie didn't know what to think. Instead, she went back to Tommy's room, to report to him what she had just seen. His response was not as she had expected.

Tommy smiled. "I knew things would work out for the best."

"You say that like you're God or something," Jude teased.

He raised an eyebrow amusedly at the simile. "Well, I don't know about that, but I do know one thing. I know that from now on, I'll be the one in control of your life."

"I thought I was the one to do that," Jude replied smilingly.

"Not anymore." He gently reached over and turned Jude's head to face his own, and they looked at each other for a few moments, her face turning serious at the determined look on his. "Look, Jude, these past few months, I've done so much to hurt you that I know I can never make it up to you, but I'll spend the rest of my life trying. And I know you'll never believe me, not after all I've done, but I promise you, I'll never hurt you again. You're the center of my world."

"And you're the center of mine." Tommy leaned in, and this time Jude accepted, and together they shared the first guilt-free kiss of their lives.

THE END


End file.
